


Percent Certainty

by Fanforthefics (StormDancer)



Series: Hockey Tumblr Oneshots [36]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Multi, Relationship Negotiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-12-28 01:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21128420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormDancer/pseuds/Fanforthefics
Summary: Ryan is like…99% sure that Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall are dating. (Not everyone agrees).





	Percent Certainty

**Author's Note:**

> For the 5 headcanons prompt: college AU. 
> 
> As always, not beta-ed and barely edited. Enjoy!

Ryan is like…99% sure that Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall are dating.

Well. maybe more like 90%. He doesn’t know them well, though everyone knows Taylor Hall and so they all know Jordan Eberle too, and Ryan knows them a little better than most because Jordan was on his hall and Taylor’s in his major. But he doesn’t even need that to know. It’s a pretty clear conclusion to draw, when they are like they are—always around each other, always touching somehow. Sharing a room. With how they look at each other, how Ebs laughs at Taylor’s jokes like he’s the funniest person in the world, how Taylor quotes Jordan like whatever he says is the last word on any subject. With how Taylor definitely pined when Jordan did that few week service trip in Sophomore year, and how Jordan seems to look lost wherever he is until Taylor shows up. It’s cute, really. Ryan’s not particularly a romantic, but he can tell it’s sweet, in a way college couples aren’t usually.

Also, he’s never seen any evidence, but Gags definitely once saw them at a party, celebrating a beer pong win by Taylor pressing Jordan against a wall and kissing him until it, to quote Gags, “Got kind of awkward.” So. There’s that. That’s…look, Ryan’s not going to say he hasn’t thought about it, because they’re hot and the thought of them together is hot, but he’s not creepy about it, he thinks. He doesn’t want to be. He just…likes to see them together.

* * *

Taylor is like…75% sure he’s dating Ebs.

To be fair, the last 25% is mostly because he suspects that if Jordan would want to start dating by sitting him down to Talk about it, because Jordan likes to think that being a Psych major means he knows how things like communication works. But, like. He’s pretty sure they’re dating? They hang out all the time, and Ebs is his favorite person, and they’s been hooking up for a year now and it’s really great, so he figures that’s what you really need for a relationship. Like, sure, Ebs is a little leery of PDA, but Taylor does get that not everyone’s as much of an exhibitionist as he is, and Jordan can be shy before you get to know him. And Jordan doesn’t mind it when he’s drunk and Taylor gets handsy because Ebs looks great, all flushed and smiling and gorgeous.

So whatever, they don’t use words like boyfriends, and they don’t go out, but no one does that in college. Taylor’s still happy, basically. He’s got Ebs. Probably.

* * *

Jordan is 100% sure he’s not dating Hallsy. This is because he’d asked him out, once, Freshman year, still blushing and tripping over his tongue, and Taylor had laughed and said that this was college, no one dated in college, Ebby, don’t be ridiculous. So Jordan got the message. And it doesn’t matter how many times they hook up, or how many times Taylor stretches his arm over the back of a booth to fiddle with the ends of Jordan’s hair. Not dating is not dating. Jordan’s not going to be stupid about it.

* * *

Which is how he ends up at a party in someone’s dorm, very drunk and talking—well maybe yelling—about the Flames' chances this year.

“They’re better!” He says, yells, or something. Waving his hand. That was a risky maneuver, apparently, but luckily his shoulder’s against the wall, so he’s okay.

The guy he’s talking to smiles, a smile that seems to say that he noticed Jordan almost falling over and is amused by it, but not in a mean way. He’s—Jordan knows him, and not just because he’s the only one in the conversation who didn’t leave once Jordan started on about hockey. Jordan’s drunk enough it takes a second, but he finds the name. Ryan. From Jordan’s hall. Had he been this cute back then too? Jordan will figure that out later.

“Okay, but better’s not good,” Ryan argues, still with that smile on. Jordan waves his hand again.

“And what would you know about it?” He demands. Ryan’s that bit taller than Jordan that he likes, that makes Jordan have to look up just a little. “Are you an expert?”

“Are you?” Ryan replies, still with that amused little smile, and Jordan nods, because that’s fair. Ryan may also be soberer than him, which probably makes him more of an expert.

“You probably like the Canucks,” Jordan says, shaking his head. “That’s got to be your flaw.”

Ryan grins at him, and Jordan grins back. It’s been a while since Jordan flirted with anyone who wasn’t Taylor, who didn’t count, but he likes this. “My only flaw?”

“It’s not your face, so unless you’re hiding a tail.” Ryan laughs, and it’s nice. Taylor’s usually the funny one. It’s nice to make someone laugh. He makes Ryan laugh a couple more times as they talk, and Jordan is pretty drunk but also pretty sure he’s not reading it wrong, when he licks some errant beer off his lips and Ryan glances down. He will definitely move closer. Right as soon as he can be sure he can stand up.

Except first—“Ebby!” Taylor appears out of nowhere, throws an arm around his shoulders. He’s warm and comfortable too, and Jordan fits so well there. Even if he knows he can’t always. “There you are, you disappeared,” Taylor says, pouting more than a little.

“I’ve been here,” Jordan argues. “With Ryan. This is Ryan!” He adds, waving at Ryan. Taylor always says he can’t make new friends, but look at him, making friends. “Ryan, this is Hallsy.”

“I know Ryan, we’re in the same major,” Taylor tells Jordan. He grins at Ryan. It’s a good smile. “Good to see you, man. Thanks for taking care of Ebs.”

“You too.” Ryan’s flushed a little, like he wasn’t expecting that. For Taylor to know him. “I—“

“He’s a Canucks fan,” Jordan tells Taylor, with a sigh, because that is a major problem. Taylor snorts, and he’s definitely sharing a smile with Ryan that makes Jordan feel a little on the outside.

“At least he likes hockey,” Taylor points out. Jordan nods, because fair point, but that makes him stumble, somehow.

Taylor catches him with an arm around his waist, always so easy with it. “Okay, you’re drunk,” Taylor says, like he’s a little surprised. “Time to get you home.”

“I’m not that drunk,” Jordan argues, glancing over at Ryan and trying to communicate with his eyebrows that he thinks he might be able to make something happen. Usually Hallsy and him have impeccable eyebrow communication, but this one fails, because Taylor just laughs and shakes his head.

“Nope, time for good Ebses to go to sleep,” he informs him, and tugs Jordan away from the wall. “It was good to see you, Ryan.”

“You too.” Ryan glances at Jordan. Jordan licks his lips again, to see if it works; it does. “And you, Jordan.”

“I’ll see you around,” Jordan says, or tries to say, it might not have come out right, given how Taylor’s laughing at him. But he’s the one who gets the last laugh, because when they get home Jordan’s sobered up enough that he has it in him to tease Taylor until he’s basically begging to come, so. Take that.

* * *

Ryan’s coming out of the Business school when he hears a “Ryan!” and stops to see Jordan Eberle jogging up to him. Ryan stops, confused. They’d talked at the party the other day, but Jordan had been pretty drunk. It had been cute, and even drunk he could argue hockey, but given how he’d been slumping on Taylor when Taylor’s half-carried him out of the party, he had sort of expected Jordan to forget about it.

“Um, Taylor wasn’t in class today, I don’t think…” he says, when Jordan catches up to him.

“Oh, yeah, he overslept,” Jordan agrees, easy. Which explains why Taylor wasn’t there, but not why Jordan was. “I was looking for you, actually. I figured you’d be in this class. Not in a a creepy way!” He hurries on, flushing a little when Ryan raises his eyebrows. “Hallsy just mentioned it.”

“So that’s a no on the stalking, then?” Ryan asks. “I would have thought I’d notice you.”

“Yeah, Hallsy’s usually pretty loud, it’s true,” Jordan agrees. Which hadn’t exactly been what Ryan meant, but also was probably how a person in a relationship would take a statement like that, because Ryan should not be flirting with a guy in a relationship. Even if he’d thought, last night—but then Taylor had come over and Jordan had basically melted into him, so he’d probably been wrong.

Still, “I don’t know him, but he doesn’t seem like the best stalking partner.”

“No, he’s not,” Jordan says, sounding very fond. Then he glances up at Ryan, his eyes a sudden shock of blue. “What about you?”

“What?”

“Would you be better at being a stalking partner?” He asks, and Ryan shrugs.

“I’ve been told I’m sneaky.”

“I thought you might be.” Jordan smiles at him again, then brushes some hair out of his face. “I mean, um. Anyway. I just wanted to apologize if I was a dick at the party, I was pretty drunk.”

“You got drunk at a dorm party? Who ever would have suspected that,” Ryan drawls, and Jordan snorts but ducks his head a little. “You weren’t a dick. I mean, if I’d really been a Canucks fan I would be pissed, but I can overlook that.”

“If you’d really been a Canucks fan, I wouldn’t have apologized,” Jordan retorts. He bites at his lip, then looks up at Ryan again. “And, um. I was wondering if you’d want to get coffee with me or something sometime?”

Ryan tells himself pretty sternly that he’s reading too much into an offer of friendship. Jordan’s taken, he tells himself, despite any of the flirting he’s pretty sure they’ve been doing. He’s not always the best at flirting, maybe he misread it. “That’d be great,” he agrees, and Jordan’s smile probably makes it worth it.

“Awesome. I’ve got to get to class, but give me your number and we can figure it out?” Ryan does, entering it into Jordan’s phone, and then Jordan grins at him again. “Sick. See you later, Ryan,” he says, and waves before he goes off again.

Ryan stares after him. It’s a new friend, that’ll be good. A cute new friend, but that’s how the world works.

* * *

“Where have you been?” Taylor demands, when Jordan comes into their room. He tries not to either make it a pout or to sound angry, or anything, but Jordan’s been disappearing a lot and Taylor’s not a fan of it. They’d been supposed to watch the next episode of Stranger Things together. Or, well, it hadn’t been scheduled, but that’s what they always did.

“Oh, I was getting dinner with Ryan,” Jordan says, unwrapping his scarf. Taylor scowls more. This is the second diner Jordan’s gotten with Ryan, not that Taylor’s counting.

“You’re there a lot,” he says, and then he hears it and hates how it sounds. He’s not suspicious, or whatever. He and Jordan aren’t like, explicitly exclusive. And Jordan wouldn’t cheat on him. He’s not that kind of guy.

“I like hanging out with him,” Jordan informs Taylor, then drops onto Taylor’s bed next to him. Taylor scoots down so he can rest his head on Jordan’s shoulder. “He’s cool. I think you’d like him too.”

“I do need a cool friend to balance you out,” Taylor agrees, and bats away the pillow Jordan swings at his head. That starts a wrestling match, of course, and then that starts them making out, because Taylor really doesn’t know any other proper response to getting Jordan pinned in his bed. So it’s after that, once their clothes are back on and they’ve queued up Stranger Things, that Jordan mutters, a little quiet and sheepish.

“I really do like him.”

Taylor doesn’t need to know what him they’re talking about. Which he’s fine with. Jordan should have friends. He’s fine. “Then I guess he must be all right,” Taylor allows, and hits play before wiggling closer to Ebs again.

Which is all to say, that’s why he takes the seat next to Ryan in the seminar they’re both in the next day. He’s not jealous or anything. He just likes to know the people who his boyfriend is friends with. All teasing aside, Ebs has good taste in people.

“Hi!” He says cheerfully, and Ryan glances up at him a little wide-eyed, like he’s shocked, or maybe scared.

“Hi?”

“So how much time do you think we’ll spend talking about his dog today?” Taylor asks, and Ryan smiles, a little wary still, but a real smile.

“I bet we can get it to twenty minutes.”

“I could get us to 30,” Taylor counters, and Ryan grins.

“Bet on it?”

Okay, fine. Ryan seems cool. “You’re on,” Taylor says, and shakes.

* * *

Ryan has it figured out. He’d been sort of…confused, after the first few times he and Ebs hung out, because it definitely felt flirty and sort of date-like but also Jordan brought up Taylor once every other sentence, in the way that all of Ryan’s friends who had significant others brought them up. Ryan didn’t want to be the other man, or anything, and he doesn’t know Jordan well but he doesn’t think he’d do that, so it was—odd.

Except then Taylor started talking to him more in class, walking with him on their way home after and shit. It wasn’t quite as flirty, but Taylor didn’t exactly seem like a flirty guy; he seemed like the kind of guy who either went for it or didn’t. Which must be why Jordan was the one doing the overt…Ryan doesn’t like the word wooing, it feels weird. But he figures that’s what’s happening—he’s being wooed into a threesome with Jordan and Taylor.

Of course, that comes with its own levels of weird. The more Ryan gets to know them, the more Ryan likes them—Taylor’s loud, easy charm and open heart, Jordan’s quieter comfort and quicker wit. And he likes them together, from what he’s seen of it, though he hasn’t seen much. He gets each of them separately, more. But it’s even more clear when you’re actually talking to them, the affection they have for each other.

But that affection makes it mean more. Oh, maybe they just want to sleep with him and move on, but Ryan’s pretty sure just getting him in bed isn’t worth this sort of work. Jordan’s being very…traditional about it, almost, the way they actually go on dates like no one else in college ever does. And neither of them have even kissed him yet, though he’s certain Jordan wants to and he suspects Taylor does. So Ryan thinks they want something more than just a fun threesome, and that’s…well, it’s serious. They love each other, and Ryan’s not sure how he’d fit in with that.

So he waits, and watches, and lets them all move slowly. Tries to see the spaces he’d fill with them, because he thinks they are there; a place for Jordan to be quiet with, a place where Taylor hits walls he can’t move.

Then—then, Jordan and him are hanging out at Jordan and Taylor’s, with Taylor out somewhere, watching a movie on Jordan’s laptop. Jordan’s warm next to him, and somehow manages to hold himself just right for leaning into despite being shorter than Ryan—maybe he has practice, with Taylor—and he’s laughing, but not at the movie—at something on his phone.

“Sorry,” Jordan says, when Ryan raises a questioning eyebrow. “Hallsy was just—look.” He holds out the phone.

_Your Christmas present _Taylor’s texted, with a picture of a t-shirt, with ‘I’m a Psycho(logist)’ scrawled across it in letters that look like blood.

Ryan snorts. “You would be the one to crack first,” he agrees. Jordan makes a face.

“Hey!”

“Full Harley Quinn,” Ryan teases, and Jordan’s face does something that’s fond and mocking all at once.

“Okay, but at least I’m not a nerd.”

“You got the joke,” Ryan points out, and Jordan laughs and nudges him with his shoulder.

“Whatever.” His tongue pokes out from between his teeth as he types back, grinning half at whatever chirp he’s throwing at Taylor, half at Ryan, and something falls into place. Ryan can fit here, he thinks.

His face must show something, because when Jordan looks back up at him, his face does a thing. Taylor would know what it means, Ryan thinks, and when he pushes at that thought he finds it’s not a bad one. He wants to learn what it means. “Hey,” Jordan says, his voice lower, rougher. He’s definitely leaning in, definitely getting the vibes Ryan must be putting out.

“That’s your line?” Ryan asks, and Jordan shrugs.

“I’m not the smooth one.” His mouth does a thing, like he’s worried Ryan hasn’t noticed that. It also draws Ryan’s attention to Jordan’s mouth, like it wasn’t there already. That makes Jordan smile.

“Taylor won’t mind?” Ryan asks. He doesn’t know if they have a plan, if they want to do this together.

“Why would he mind?” Jordan replies, a little vague, and that answers that enough for Ryan to finish all this waiting and kiss him.

* * *

Jordan and Ryan are very respectable by the time Taylor comes in, if you ask Jordan. Like, sure, Taylor knows very well what Jordan looks like when he’s been making out with someone for a while, but Taylor had given plenty of notice and so Jordan had even finished fixing up Ryan’s hair by the time Taylor comes in.

“Oh, hi,” Ryan says, and Jordan grins and nods at Taylor. He’s feeling pretty good; it’s been a while since he hooked up with anyone but Taylor but Ryan was a good kisser, and he liked Jordan enough to kiss him, and also go on dates with him, and it’s—like, seeing Taylor here makes Jordan’s stomach twist, because it always does, knowing what he can’t have with Taylor, but Ryan being here helps more than a little.

So yeah, maybe he grins at Taylor, because his first impulse when something good happens will never not be to share it with Taylor.

Taylor takes one look at them, then his eyes widen, and his face goes—tragic.

“Are you breaking up with me?” He asks Jordan, in a tone of voice Jordan’s never heard before—like someone died.

Jordan blinks. “What?”

“Are you—you were, with Ryan, and you wouldn’t if you still wanted me—“

“If I still wanted you?” Jordan demands, because he has no idea what the fuck is happening. “What do you even mean—“

“What do you think it means? You’re hooking up with someone else!”

“So what?” Jordan snaps at him. Taylor’s the one who didn’t want him, Taylor doesn’t get to be pissy about this sort of shit. “Since when was that an issue?” 

“So what?”

“Wait,” Ryan breaks in, and Jordan spins to look at him. He looks—unsure, for maybe the first time since Jordan’s met him. Ryan’s a lot of things, and he’s definitely been waiting, but he hasn’t been unsure. “So are you guys going out?”

“No!”

“Yes!”

The two words ring out simultaneously, and then the room goes silent.

Slowly, Jordan turns to look at Taylor. Taylor’s staring at him again, and he looks like his voice sounded. “What the hell?” Jordan asks. His voice is very, very hoarse. “We aren’t dating.”

“Yes we are.” Taylor sets his jaw, stubborn. “You never said it but we are, you know we are, Ebby.”

“I’m going to—“

“No,” Jordan snaps at Ryan, who sits back down. Jordan takes a breath. He didn’t—Taylor thinks they’re _dating_? Is he just doing this to mess with Jordan’s new thing with Ryan? “You stay. We aren’t in a relationship, Hallsy.”

“What do you call the last year? You’re my best friend, and the sex is great, and I love you, you know that,” Taylor goes on, all in a rush, and it sounds desperate, like it’s pouring out of him, like he’s throwing it all at Jordan in a last attempt for him to catch it. Jordan can’t breathe. “We don’t hook up with anyone else and we’re always beer pong partners and last time I was sick you brought me soup. That’s a relationship.”

Jordan swallows. “You don’t—that’s not what you want,” Jordan says, slowly. “You didn’t—you don’t want to date me. You said that. And we don’t—we hook up. That’s not _dating_.”

“That’s—“ Taylor runs a hand through his hair. “This is college, Jordan! No one actually goes on dates! Did you really think that just because I don’t take you out to fancy restaurants or whatever I’m not serious?”

“That’s how things work!” Jordan insists. He’s right about this, he knows he is. He has to be, because otherwise—otherwise, things are very fucked. “I know people hook up in college, but that’s just hooking up. If it’s serious you need to do more!”

“What more do you want, then?” Taylor demands. “If you’d asked me, I would’ve—“ He swallows, and the irritation clears for a second, something heartbreakingly vulnerable in its place. Jordan’s spent years trying to make sure that Taylor never looks like that. “Do you not want that, with me?”

“Of course I do,” Jordan says before he thinks, then—he looks at Ryan, who’s been sitting on the bed, watching them—unsure but patient, watchful, taking it in. Ryan, who gets Jordan’s jokes and makes Jordan feel seen, like he’s more than a shadow. “I mean—I—“

“You guys have to sort this out.” Ryan gets up. Jordan can’t read him as well as he can read Taylor, but he can see it’s costing him a lot, to keep everything hidden. “I’ll go. But, um. Just so you know.” He looks young, suddenly—Jordan doesn’t always remember that he’s younger than him, but he does now. “You guys are really good together. Enough that I, well, I thought you wanted me with both of you, and I was ready to go with it.”

Jordan’s jaw drops, probably. Taylor makes a sound. Ryan’s lips flick upwards once, wry, then he claps them both on the shoulder, and closes the door behind him.

Jordan looks at the door, then at Taylor, then—Taylor still looks half-heartbroken and half hopeful, and all Jordan’s best friend, the guy he’s loved since he met him, basically. The guy he hasn’t been able to get over even when he knew he should.

“I do want you,” Jordan says, because that much he knows. “I’ve always—I thought you didn’t want this. I was trying to get over you.”

“You’re so fucking stupid,” Taylor tells him, and then his hand’s on Jordan’s arm, tugging him closer. “I wanted this, I just didn’t realize you were living in the 50s and needed me to court you.”

“It’s not courting,” Jordan protests, because sue him, maybe he’s traditional—but then Taylor kissing him, long and deep and desperate like if he stopped he’d lose Jordan, like losing Jordan would be losing something precious, and Jordan can’t help but kiss him back, just as deep. Taylor wants him. Taylor wants this, in a way Jordan never thought he could have.

Jordan doesn’t know how much time that takes, like he never really knows, what Taylor really brings his A kissing game. But eventually, Jordan rests his head on Taylor shoulder, leaning into the arm around his waist. This is great, this is amazing. But.

“What do we do about Ryan?” Taylor asks, like an echo of Jordan’s thoughts. “He’s a good guy. I don’t want to break his heart.”

“I don’t think his heart’s—“

“Anyone’s heart is involved when it’s you,” Taylor tosses back, careless and devastating, and Jordan makes sure Taylor can’t see him blush. “I mean, I’m not giving you up, or anything. But I don’t want him to get screwed over either.”

Jordan is not usually reckless. And sometimes, he’s traditional. But he loves Taylor and he likes Ryan in a way that he thinks could become more. And Jordan’s always thought he had common sense.

“Well,” he says, and looks up at Taylor. Taylor meets his gaze, questioning but ready. “Maybe we don’t have to?”

* * *

Taylor knocks on the door of Ryan’s dorm room.

It’s maybe a little stalkerish, but it’s not like Ryan didn’t know how Taylor could find out where he lived, and anyway, Taylor didn’t really think that far ahead. Now he’s here and he knocks, anyway, and Ryan opens the door. His eyes widen a little when he sees who it is.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” Taylor replies, and glances pointedly at the door. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.” Ryan steps aside, and Taylor goes in. Taylor’s never been here before; it’s a single, which means Ryan lucked out in some lottery, and it’s a little messy in the way teenaged boys are, but it’s neater than what Taylor would be if left to his own devices. There are some hockey posters on the wall, though, which bodes well.

“Are you going to punch me?” Ryan asks, closing the door behind them. He doesn’t say it like he’s afraid, just like he’s curious. “I really didn’t think he was cheating. He didn’t either.”

“I’m not going to punch you,” Taylor tells him. He watches, as Ryan nods. Taylor hadn’t really thought about him, because, well, Ebs, but he’s pretty hot. When Taylor had been jealous, or whatever, of him, he had thought it made sense, because Ebs liked hot guys and Ryan was hot. That’s still true. And he does like Ryan, as a person. He likes how he wasn’t afraid, and how much he likes Ebs, and how he’s secretly a dick and the way he tells Taylor to ask his most annoying questions in class. “We should talk or whatever, though.”

“Yeah, probably.” Ryan bites at his lip, the only hint of nerves Taylor’s seen so far. “I’m not going to like, try to steal Jordan back, or anything, I swear. I mean, I like him a lot, but you guys are—“

Talking is overrated, Taylor decides. So he kisses Ryan instead.

For a second, it’s a pretty decent kiss, even though Ryan clearly wasn’t expecting it. Then Ryan pushes Taylor away—not meanly, just firmly.

“What?” he demands. Taylor hadn’t gotten a chance to really mess him up, but he thinks he’d like to. “That wasn’t talking, Taylor.”

“Yeah, well.” Taylor shrugs. “Jordan’s the one who’s into talking, usually.”

“Try me.”

Right, this is probably important. Even if Ryan’s arms look good, folded across his chest. “So Ebs and I talked. And we’re like together, for real.”

“I figured that would happen.” Taylor can’t help smiling at that. Then he remembers to go on.

“But,” Taylor goes on. This is something he needs to say. “Jordan also likes you.” Ryan nods, and something plays over his lips. “And I like Ebs getting everything he wants. So we talked about it. And about what you said. About both of us.”

“And?”

“And—“ Taylor shrugs, and looks pointedly at Ryan, so he’ll notice that Taylor just kissed him.

“So that was a try out?” Ryan asks. He looks like he was trying not to hope, or smile, but it’s pushing through. “No dates?”

“Jordan’s the one who’s traditional about that shit,” Taylor retorts, and grins, the sort of grin that usually makes Jordan shove him into something to kiss him. “I don’t really care about that.”

“And?” Ryan asks. His arms are still across his chest, but he looks less tense, in a way Taylor hadn’t quite noticed he was tense before. “How’d I do?”

“I don’t know. I think I should try again,” Taylor retorts, and edges closer. “If you think I should.”

Ryan laughs, then, and lets his arms fall to hook a finger into Taylor’s jeans and tug him in.

When Ryan’s trying, Taylor discovers, he can definitely kiss even better.

* * *

Ryan is 100% sure that Taylor and Jordan are dating. He spends a lot of time with them now, and they’re just as cute from close up—they’ve known each other so long that sometimes they feel psychic, and they’re still inseparable, and when Jordan goes home a few days early for break Taylor definitely does pine, lying on Ryan’s bed and whining about how Ebs should have booked tickets later. They still look at each other like the world starts and ends with each other.

Ryan is also 100% sure that he is dating Taylor and Jordan. Jordan insists on taking them both out on real, honest dates, when they manage to play three-way footsie and Taylor and Ryan give Jordan a lot of shit for being so ridiculous and Jordan rolls his eyes and takes it. And Taylor doesn’t let them out of bed more than once, and he remembers to get Ryan coffee before class, and when they watch TV Taylor manages to somehow lie on top of both Jordan and Ryan.

Ryan’s maybe still not particularly romantic, and this is still college, and it’s still—sometimes he sees them and wonders why they want him here. But then they look at him too, and whatever. Ryan loves them, and college is the time for making stupid decisions, and, well. Ryan really does still like seeing them together. Especially when he’s there too.

**Author's Note:**

> Liked it? Want to talk about it? Comment or come chat on tumblr at [ fanforthefics!](http://fanforthefics.tumblr.com/)


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